MANILA, Philippines — China has expressed “very dramatic” concerns about a mid-range missile system the U.S. military recently deployed to the Philippines, warning it could destabilize the region. But Manila’s top diplomat said Friday he had reassured his Chinese counterpart that the weapons were in the country only temporarily.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi expressed China’s concerns over the deployment of US medium-range missiles in the Philippines during their conversations last month in Laos on the sidelines of the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with Asian and Western countries.
“We discussed it and, well, they made it very dramatic,” Manalo said in response to questions at a news conference with foreign correspondents in Manila. “I told you not to worry.”
When asked to specify what China’s specific concerns were, Manalo said Wang warned that the presence of the US missile system could be “destabilizing,” but the Philippine foreign policy chief said he disagreed. “They are not destabilizing” and the missile system was only in the Philippines temporarily, Manalo told Wang.
The U.S. military said in April it had transported the intermediate-range ballistic missile system, a land-based weapon capable of firing the Standard Missile-6 and the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, from the U.S. to the northern Philippines as part of combat exercises with Philippine troops.
However, the missile system was not fired during the longtime allies’ joint combat exercises and the Philippine military has said the missile system may leave the country next month.
China has a strong opposed the increased deployment of the US military to the region, including the Philippines, warning that these could endanger stability and peace in the region.
The US and the Philippines have repeatedly condemned China’s policies. increasingly assertive actions to strengthen its territorial claims in the South China Sea, where hostilities between Chinese and Philippine coast guard troops and accompanying vessels have been particularly intense since last year.
In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims to the busy waterways, a key global and security route.
